Damaged
by magical-mystery-girl
Summary: A werewolf's pack is never in danger from the wolf. Hermione knows this, even if Remus doesn't. As she goes about explaining the concept to him pasts, scars and other hidden feelings are revealed. Better than summary!  Read and Review!


**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, most certainly not now, and probably not ever…sorry…**

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**Damaged**

A terrified scream was what woke her. Hermione shot up in her bed and looked around, her wand outstretched; only to realize that the scream had been her own, and that no one was actually attacking her. Groaning as she plopped herself down on her pillow she sighed, "Thank Merlin for silencing charms," she muttered weakly, her throat raw from the nightmare she had been in the middle of.

She looked over at the clock, it was just past one in the morning, but that didn't mean she was going to be getting any more sleep anytime soon. Growling she stood, and despite the stifling mid summer heat, she tugged a black long sleeve shirt over her red sports bra and readjusted her silver satin pajama bottoms.

Removing the various wards and charms she placed on her room Hermione slowly opened her door, listening for any sign of any other late night snackers. Hearing nothing Hermione began to make her way down the stairs and towards the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

She noticed a light under the door to the kitchen and slowed, pausing right outside the door opening it just enough to see the occupant of the room was none other than Remus Lupin. Hermione hesitated a second longer before shaking her head and softly entering the kitchen.

Remus' head shot up from his intense study of the kitchen counter and the word "_Mate," _entered his mind unbidden as he whipped around to see who had just walked through the door. Already subconsciously knowing it was Hermione, he quickly went to pull on a shirt, as he only had a pair of black pajama bottoms.

Hermione sleepily shook her head, halting his movements, "Don't worry about covering up, I'm sure you don't have anything I haven't already seen before," she stated, heading straight for the cupboard for a glass and filling it with cold water.

Remus raised his eyebrows at her, both in shock and amusement at her offhanded comment, "Really," he stated in a tone that said that he didn't know whether to be disbelieving or offended.

Hermione turned to him and propped herself on the counter, "Living with two boys in a small tent while on the run from a crazed snake thing and his evil minions…you tend to see things you wish you hadn't," Hermione said, shrugging and mock shuddering, "Especially from the two people most like my brothers," she shook her head a small smile on her face as she looked him in the eye, "I will _never_ be able to unsee some of those things."

Remus chuckled and sat down at the long table, "I suppose that _would_ leave a few mental scars," he agreed, his eyes twinkling, he gestured for her to take a seat on the other side of the table, and she did so after refilling her glass of cold water. Remus watched her closely, "Are you alright?" he asked suddenly after a few moments of silence.

Hermione gave him a contemplative look. Seeing nothing but kind understanding she shook her head and sighed, "I just had another nightmare is all," she rolled her eyes self depreciatingly, "There is nothing more annoying than waking up screaming. I hate it," she said, her eyes dropping to the table.

Remus frowned, "I didn't hear any screaming," he said in confusion.

She shook her head, "Silencing charms," she responded absently, her eyes flicking to his for a split second, long enough to catch the worried look in his eye. "The only consolation I have is in knowing Ron and Harry aren't much better off," she said, unwittingly spilling a secret she hadn't known she was keeping.

"What?" Remus gasped, "They have nightmares too?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah," she said, her finger following a drop of condensation on her glass, "They were worse right after the war, and we have all slowly stopped having them every night, but they still occur often enough."

Remus felt his mind cloud with worry for the trio, since it _had_ been nearly three years since the war; it was still disturbing to know that all three of his flat mates still had nightmares. "They use silencing charms as well?" he asked weakly.

Hermione nodded, looking as if this were a common topic of discussion, "Sometimes they use a few other wards as well, but it isn't that big of deal," she said, looking up at him. As her hazel eyes met his concerned chocolate brown ones she frowned, "You didn't know," she stated suddenly, shock spreading across her face.

Remus shook his head, "None of you ever said anything, I just assumed," he hesitated, his head tilting as he studied her, "Do you want to tell me about them?" he asked gently, not wanting to pry, but feeling an urge to help take away whatever was causing her pain.

Hermione shook her head, "Not right now," she said, her eyes tracing the tired lines of his face, "What about you?" she asked, "Do you want to tell me why you are up this late?"

Remus shrugged, his fingers drawing absent patterns on the wooden table, "Just thinking," he said his shoulders tensing as he felt her inspection of his face move to his bare shoulders and neck.

"About what?" she pried softly, unaware that he could feel her gaze as it stroked across his well defined chest and back to his face.

"Nothing in particular, just….I…" he trailed off, his head shaking without even thinking about it.

Hermione nodded accepting this non-answer; she looked back at her own water, taking a sip, before resting it back on the table and curling her hands around it. Suddenly a thought that had absently niggling in the back of her mind finally stepped forward and she looked at him closely once again, "Remus, why did you hurry to put on a shirt when I walked in here?" she asked, "I mean it's one thing to just want to cover up for modesty's sake, but you were acting a bit frantic about it," Hermione watched as Remus' face seemed to redden a bit, egging her on, "Why?" she prodded.

Remus shrugged, looking everywhere but at her, "I…" he stuttered, and hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders, his eyes still not meeting hers, "Dora always felt uncomfortable when faced with all my scars," he said quickly, his head dropping in shame, thinking that now he had pointed his flaws out to the beautiful woman sitting across from him she would feel the same as his ex-wife.

Hermione surprised both Remus and herself with a low growl at the mention of the other woman, "It's her loss," she stated firmly, her eyes narrowed, the venom in her voice causing Remus to look at her in shock.

Simultaneously they both realized she wasn't just talking about his physical appearance, but of everything that Tonks had lost the day she had kicked Remus out of the house. Remus searched her face, "How do you do that?" he breathed.

Hermione brushed a stray curl back from her face, "Do what?" she asked a bit embarrassed at her earlier reaction.

"Know exactly what I was thinking about?" Remus answered, looking at her with a tint of wonder in his eyes.

Hermione giggled a bit, "You were thinking about how Tonks missed out on seeing your fabulous chest?" she mocked, pretending as if that was what she had been talking about, though they both knew it wasn't…mostly.

Remus chuckled and shook his head, "No, I was just trying to figure out how Dora…Tonks could possibly not feel any guilt on missing out on Teddy's life," he said softly, the mirth dying from his eyes, "or mine," he added, even more quietly, not intending for Hermione to hear the last bit.

Hermione shook her vehemently and reached out to cover one of Remus' hands in her own, sending a sudden shock through both of them. Remus' eyes jerked to hers to see if she had noticed, and she calmly looked back, giving no indication of whether she had or not. But she had, though it hadn't surprised her, the shock had been a frequent occurrence that happened every time she touched her former professor in any way.

The word "_Mate,"_ echoed in her mind in a low and gravelly imitation of Remus' own voice. "Like I said before," she said firmly, her eyes locked with his, "It's her loss."

Remus couldn't have pulled his eyes away if he had wanted to, the look she was giving him was so captivating; it felt like coming home, a feeling he hadn't had since the last happy meeting of the Marauders, Lily and little Harry. Absently he admitted to himself that he had never felt this way about Tonks, she had never pulled him in so fully with any part of her body like this witch did with just a gaze.

"But Teddy needs a mother," Remus finally managed to say, somehow managing to contain an unmanly whimper when Hermione removed her hand.

Hermione shook her head, "Not in the form of Tonks," she said firmly, "Tonks was the one to walk away from both of you, and her reasons were her own. But a woman who could leave such a wonderful and amazing child like Teddy, as well as a kind and brilliant man as yourself…" Hermione shook her head, "She doesn't deserve you, either of you," she said in such a way that left no question as to what her opinion was on the matter.

Remus cleared his throat, looking at his hands in a mixture of shame and embarrassment, "It was my fault," he said softly, so softly he half hoped Hermione hadn't heard it.

"How was her leaving you _your_ fault?" Hermione demanded, not believing his words for a second.

Remus leaned back in the chair and looked up at the ceiling, contemplating whether he should tell her or not; not that he didn't want to. In fact, he wanted more than anything to just spill every thought and frustration and concern that had ever entered his mind. But he just couldn't bring himself to weigh the younger woman down with his problems.

He and Tonks had survived the Final battle in relatively one piece, though no one had thought so. It had been two days after the Final Battle, just before they were about to be moved from the Great Hall to a more appropriate place to prepare them for burial, when he and Tonks had suddenly awoken, surprising everyone.

It turned out the spell used on them had been one that made the recipient only appear to be dead for a couple of days, hopefully long enough for them to be placed in a coffin with air tight charms on it (a wizarding form of mummification), or buried alive. Either option leaving the recipient to feel an intense fear and desperation before suffocating or starving to death.

The spell had been used on several other Light members, of which Fred was one of the more noteworthy. Though the boy had several broken bones from the various places the rubble had hit him when it had fallen on him, he had woken with a loud, attention seeking groan, proclaiming in slight deliriousness that _that_ experiment had been an epic fail, and that next time it was George's turn to be the test dummy. The Weasley's had frantically circled around their fallen family member, leaving only Harry behind to hug Remus in delight that he was still alive.

Harry had confirmed that the light had won, though pointedly leaving out exactly how it had happened; something that as Remus thought about it now, had never really been cleared up for him. He had quickly assured Remus and Tonks that their son was fine, relieving both parents for the time being.

Remus and Tonks had lived relatively peacefully for about a year afterwards, during which time Harry and Ron had gone into auror training and Hermione had gone off to a magical university in America. It was during that second year after the Final Battle that Tonks had begun to become unsettled and irritated.

She would often get mad at the smallest things, even snapping at Teddy a time or two, despite the boy only being around two at the time. Remus had found himself arguing and defending both his son and himself far more often than he would have liked, but still he stuck around, hoping that it would be just a phase, for Teddy's sake.

It apparently hadn't been, when on the day of Teddy's third birthday party she had come home with a man on her arms, and stated that Remus needed to leave; telling him that she just couldn't take the life of a werewolf's wife any longer. Remus hadn't known what to do at the time, as the house did, in fact, belong to Tonks, since she was the one with the job that paid for everything.

He had slowly packed his things and went to leave when he found Teddy being thrust into his arms, with his own small bag of things. Tonks had opened the door for them, stated that she had already begun the proper paper and spell work to end their marriage, and that Remus could keep Teddy, before slamming the door in their faces.

Remus had stood on the front doorstep in pure numb shock for a long minute, before squealing, giggling and grunts could be heard from inside the house from Tonks and her new beau. It had taken every ounce of his self control not to barge right back into the house to hex the witch six ways from Sunday, and he would have if it hadn't been for the sleeping and unaware, newly-turned three year old in his arms.

He had stared at the small boy with turquoise hair in silence for a second before making up his mind and apperating straight to Grimmauld Place. Harry and Ron had been on assignment with their partners Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini respectively at the time and Hermione had still been away at school, so the house had been empty.

He remembered having the absent thought that it was incredibly ironic that the house Sirius had once run so far and so fast away from, was now a safe house for Sirius' friends and family, a place that everyone came running _to, _rather than _from_, despite its rather dismal interior decoration.

He had gone up two flights of stairs and entered the room he had stayed in whenever he had come over, before he and Tonks had been married. Laying Teddy down on the quickly scourgified bed he had set about cleaning the rest of the room before heading into the room next to it.

The room was an old play room for Sirius and Regulus, he knew, despite Sirius avoiding the room like the plague. He quickly cleaned that room up as well, and set about unpacking Teddy's few things, as well as his own scarce objects.

Upon completion Remus had changed both himself and Teddy into better looking clean clothes, waking the boy in the process. Ultimately they had made it to the preplanned birthday party at the Burrow (where all outdoor celebrations were held) and Remus had calmly informed Harry, who had arrived a few minutes late with a friendly greeted Draco in tow, that he had moved in with them, giving only a short rendition of the story.

Harry had nodded exaggeratedly saying that the house was just as much Remus' as it was his own and that he was welcome to stay as long as he liked. Both Ron and Hermione had confirmed this at different stages throughout the night, Ron arriving only for a couple of minutes to give a hug and a present to Teddy. Hermione had been understandably upset and irritated with Tonks, but she had been the buffer for him when news got around to the rest of the Weasleys about what had happened.

Hermione had later informed him that there wasn't one person in attendance who hadn't shown their displeasure with the witch in one form or another. Howlers, hexed and jinxed letters, and some very nasty looking experimental pranks from the twins had been sent to the cheating witch from every member of his family, yes his family, for that was most definitely what they were.

It had been so bad that Tonks had left the country to some undisclosed destination; not even her own mother, who had sent her a horrible, screeching howler, knew where she was now.

Hermione cleared her throat, bringing him back to the present, "How was that…_thing_ leaving your fault?" Hermione repeated, clearly showing her distaste for the metamorphmagus.

Remus looked at her as if he thought she should already know, "I'm a werewolf. She didn't like living with a dangerous monster, it was a normal reaction," he said the hurt he felt clutching at his heart at the memory seeping into his words despite his attempts to hide it.

Hermione snapped, she jumped to her feet, "Dangerous monster?" she shrieked in disbelief, her eyes flashing, she stood there stiffly, her breathing coming in irritated pants as she tried to control herself. She lifted her now empty glass off the table and marched over to the sink and practically slammed the glass down on the counter next to it before bracing her hands on the counter and looking down in the sink.

Remus watched all of this in confusion, despite feeling a small part of him, the part he and his friends had named Moony, letting out a howl of joy at her defense of him. Slowly he rose to his feet, but once there he didn't know what to do with himself, so he stood silently, watching the young witch as she struggled to gain control over her emotions.

Finally Hermione let out a small shuddering breath, her hands still clenching the edge of the counter so hard her knuckles were turning white. "You are _not_ a dangerous monster Remus," she said softly, not looking away from the sink, "You wouldn't have hurt her, not if she was your mate," Hermione hesitated, "or even just part of your pack. You would never hurt a member of your pack," she whispered slowly looking up at him with sad eyes.

Remus felt confusion overwhelm him, "What do you mean, 'part of my pack'?" he asked quietly, wanting to understand.

Hermione slowly turned to face him, leaning back on the counter. She let her eyes trace over his face and some of the scars on his chest before lowering her gaze to the floor, "All werewolves have a pack," she began to explain, "A group of people who they love unconditionally and would do anything to protect. Even if a werewolf was transformed and a member of their pack was standing in human form right next to them, they wouldn't do anything to harm them, they can't." Hermione looked up at Remus' confused face, "If Tonks was ever in danger from you it would be because she was never part of your pack."

Remus felt his eyebrows furrow, he had never heard anything like that, but she said it with such a matter-of-fact tone, that she, at least, must believe it. "How do you know this?" he asked, a small guarded tone in his voice, but knowing somehow that she wouldn't say or do anything to hurt him.

Hermione squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eye, "I did my dissertation on werewolves and how they are just normal, kind, everyday people," she paused, "If they choose to be of course," she added, with a small tilt of her head.

Remus felt his shoulders tense, "And what did your professors think of that?" he asked stiffly, not entirely certain how to feel about her topic, despite the Moony part of him that was telling the rest of him that he was acting like an idiot.

Hermione gave him a bright smile that took his breath away and knocked the proverbial wind out of his sails, "Most of them enjoyed it, I even changed some of their opinions on the subject. There was one of them that was so anti-werewolves he failed me before he even tried to read the paper," Hermione's gaze grew slightly mischievous and embarrassed, "He was fired for it," she went on, "But they all said that the research and dedication I had to the subject was incredible, and it was well done," she finished proudly. "There's a copy of it in the library upstairs if you would like to read it," she added.

Remus nodded his head, and began to make his way to the library, entering the one room in the whole house Hermione and he both enjoyed effortlessly, "Let's say what you say is true, what makes someone part of my 'pack'?" he asked, going to sit on one of the worn, but comfortable couches as she went to look for her paper.

Hermione frowned, "It _is_ true. People have been doing experiments all over the world on this subject with _volunteer_ werewolves," she said, halting in her search for the small book that had her dissertation in it to look at him, "America especially is particularly interested in the idea of a werewolf pack," Hermione studied his face, trying to decipher the look he was giving her.

Remus, for his part, was trying to decide whether to believe her or not. He had gone his entire life researching and trying to understand this other part of him, but never had he come across the idea of a pack being anything more than a myth. "Go on," he urged, deciding to hear her out.

Figuring that was as good as she was going to get for the time being she went on, speaking softly in a tone meant to show her understanding of his wariness. "What makes someone a part of your pack is their closeness to you and your trust and love for them. James, Sirius, and even Peter, were probably the first members of your pack, being the first people to try and be your friends without being disgusted by who you are. Their becoming animagi for you only strengthened their place in your pack."

Hermione went on, "Next I would suspect, is Lily, she also trusted you and loved you, I don't know much about your relationship with her, but as she was a part of James' family, she was ultimately apart of yours. Then Harry, also a part of James' family, but someone so cute and adorable that he couldn't be anything _but_ a part of your pack," she said with a smile, dragging a small chuckle from Remus' lips.

She turned to face the book shelf, her heart beat picking up considerably as she considered her next words, she opened her mouth to continue, but Remus interrupted, "Who else?" he asked, curiously, watching her long fingers trail across the old and varied spines of the books.

"Well Teddy of course, as he is _your_ son, and…" Hermione's voice failed her, and she felt her shoulders tense as her heart felt as if it would explode out her chest with how hard it was beating.

"And?" Remus prodded, trying to figure out why her heart was suddenly beating so wildly.

"Me," she whispered, in a half hearted attempt to make it so he couldn't hear her.

Remus froze, "You?" he asked, he own heart feeling a bit uncomfortable; there was no way she could know, no way. He had been so careful.

Hermione's chin fell to her chest, "Did you know that a werewolf's mate can hear the werewolf inside their head?" she asked suddenly, not turning around, but straitening her posture, there was nothing to be ashamed of, she consternated herself.

Remus felt his breath fly out of him, and he was suddenly glad he was sitting down. "What?" came his strangled reply; he couldn't believe they were having his conversation, despite the fact that there was a sudden overwhelming sense of joy and hope that was beginning to fill him.

Hermione nodded, her back still to him, "I heard you that day on the train, the first time I saw you. Moony suddenly waltzed right into my brain and told me that I was his mate, and that we would someday be together." Hermione took a deep breath and swallowed, "I was kind of bothered by it for a minute but then Harry started telling Ron and me about Sirius and what had happened that summer and I brushed it off thinking nothing more of it. Then that dementor appeared, and the entire time all I could think, thanks to Moony, was that it would be alright, you would protect me, protect _us_, and everything would be fine," Hermione sighed, "And sure enough seconds later you jumped to your feet and sent the dementor away."

Hermione paused in her speech, trying to figure out just how much to tell him. Finally deciding it was probably best if she told him everything rather than omitting things she continued her story, absently tracing the spines of the books unseeingly, "Over the school year I kept feeling this odd little pull in my brain and my chest every time I was near you. The words Moony had told me had echoed in my mind on more than one occasion, and it lead me to spend much more time in the library that year than I normally would have, researching anything I could find on soul mates, soul bonds, and the like.

"It wasn't until Professor Snape set that essay on werewolves that things finally began to make sense. At first my reaction to what I found was to be terrified and even a little disgusted, but within minutes of figuring things out I ran into you. Moony entered my mind for the first time since the train, and he congratulated me on figuring it all out. Then he comforted me, and told me that nothing would come of our relationship until I was of age at the very earliest. He also told me that no matter what he would never hurt me, _you _would never hurt me, and you wouldn't do anything that I didn't want."

Hermione sighed, "To be honest, when he told me that, everything just seemed to click, it made _sense_," she said as if speaking to herself, "I became obsessed with you in a way," she continued with a small laugh, "It was worse, but far less obvious, than my crush on Lockhart. When we did that lesson on Boggarts in that one class, I was so terrified of everyone finding out that my worst fear was something bad happening to you, or everyone figuring out that I had a crush on you…"

Hermione gave a small laugh, "I guess my mind was running through so many possibilities of things to be scared of, that the boggart was just as confused as I was and jumped on the one that I honestly worried about the least," Hermione smiled to herself at the memory, "But then when you showed up in the Shrieking Shack," Hermione shook her head as her smile was replaced with a heavy frown, and she felt herself begin to pace, "I was so upset, hurt and _confused_, I thought you were a good guy, and here you were helping a man who had killed your friends. But even at that moment, there wasn't a part of me that didn't trust you. When you and Sirius started to tell Harry what had really happened…" Hermione trailed off, "It just felt right to me."

Remus leant forward and stared closely at her back, earnestly listening to her story, trying to figure out what it all meant. During the time she was speaking of he hadn't felt any of the communications between Moony and herself. Any feelings he had at the time for her were protective, perhaps a bit _over_ protective, if he was being honest with himself, but nothing that implied a future relationship as anything other than friends.

"I don't know if you knew, I just figure everyone knows by now, but I had a time turner that year. And when Harry and I found out Sirius was going to be receiving the dementor's kiss, we both went back in time to help him escape. While we were there, waiting for the right moment when we would be able to do what we had come to do, I…" she hesitated, "I felt your emotions while you were in the Shack, elation, anger, blood lust, love, hope, despair…all of it," she closed her eyes remembering, "It was incredible, I had never been able to feel someone else's emotions before, and to feel so many…and they were so varied…" Hermione shook her head, "Intense doesn't even begin to describe it."

Remus tensed not certain how he should feel about the young woman being able to feel his emotions. Hermione tried to ignore whatever inner turmoil he was feeling and continued with her story, "Then came the scary part of my night," she snorted, "Which, considering everything else that had happened, is saying something. You were growling at Harry, in your werewolf form, and suddenly Moony entered my mind, way louder than he had ever been before, telling me to call you. So without thinking I did."

This time Hermione let out a full laugh, "Most terrifying thing I have ever done, Harry thought I was insane. But to our shock, and admittedly our terror, you actually came. When you began stalking us, Moony kept telling me not to worry, that everything would be alright. But you weren't acting like the Moony in my head, so I didn't know whether to believe Moony or not. I remember being so _relieved_ when Buckbeak showed up and scared you off. Now however," Hermione sighed and looked at the ceiling, "I'm so sorry. It must have really hurt," she said softly.

Remus swallowed harshly, "It did," he said, "But if he hadn't I probably would have killed you."

Hermione shook her head, turning around to face him, "That's just it," she said earnestly, " You wouldn't have hurt us, maybe terrified the living daylights out of the both of us, but never _hurt_ us," she looked him square in the eye, "You cannot, have not, nor will you ever hurt Harry or me," she stated firmly.

Remus just looked at her, silently asking her to continue, not agreeing or disagreeing with her words.

"Fourth year," she said with a sigh, realizing he wasn't going to say anything and turning back around to look at the books again, finding it easier to talk to the books rather than him. "Fourth year I felt as if I was constantly being split in two. You weren't there and I couldn't speak to you, it was horrible. There were times I couldn't even focus in class because the loss of not having you around was so great."

Hermione let a low growl out, "Then Victor started following me around," Hermione was surprised to hear Remus give a growl of his own, and it pleased her, "At first I was flattered, but it quickly grew old. He wasn't very smart, he couldn't say my name, and he _really_ didn't like it when I said no. When he asked me to the ball…" Hermione heard a small whimper escape her mouth, much to her surprise; she had thought she had gotten over the terror of that night, "He had cornered me in a dark hallway one night just before curfew. He pinned me in between his arms and the wall and asked me to go to the ball with him in that annoyingly broken English of his."

Hermione shuddered, "I said I didn't really think that I wanted to go with him, and he got mad. He hit the wall beside my head, and demanded that I go with him. I tried to argue with him, but ultimately he started to scare me and so I agreed, escaping only with bruises on my arms that lasted for the next two days until I could figure out how to get rid of them," again Remus gave a low growl and Hermione smiled, glad to know he wasn't okay with Victor's treatment of her, that he did have some sort of overprotective feelings for her.

"I honestly don't know what gave people the idea that I was even _remotely_ important enough for Victor to want to save from a bunch of merpeople, but somehow I ended up at the bottom of the lake, waiting to be rescued by an egotistical prat," Hermione gave an irritated sigh, "Moony began to make himself a constant presence in my mind after that, helping me to figure out how to avoid Krum while making it easier to focus. When the summer holidays rolled around and I came to stay here at Grimmauld Place…I thought I would honestly die happy when I saw you again."

Remus felt shock radiating through his body, remembering his own unexplainable happiness at seeing the curly haired girl. He waited silently for her to continue, trying to absently sort out his feelings and make sense of them.

"That summer was one of the best I have ever had, and I honestly think it was because of how often I got to see you. However, I did begin to feel a bit paranoid that I was going too overboard with the whole crush/mate thing; particularly since I really didn't understand it much at the time, so I tried to reel it in a bit. Then when I got back to Hogwarts and Umbridge was stalking around ruining our lives…" Hermione smiled, "I just remember hearing Moony constantly mumble about how one day she would get what was coming to her, and how if only he had his own body…she would regret everything she was doing. He was incredibly pleased with the idea for the DA, and anything the Weasley twins came up with just made him all the happier.

"It was odd," she said, "Having Moony rooting for the twins, even while I was attempting to get after them for testing their products on first years. It was the first time having Moony in my head was really awkward. That didn't mean I wanted him gone, by any stretch of the imagination, having him around made it easier for me to handle the intense emotions that I was feeling at the time. Ever since meeting you, my feelings have been haywire, more intense than a normal person's, but thanks to Moony I have been able to control them, rather than let them run me. I quickly figured out that whenever you were feeling strong emotions, I would feel them too.

"When we stupidly went into the Ministry of Magic searching for Sirius, all I could think was that there was most definitely something wrong with the whole scenario. Then we were under attack and those things got at us…I don't remember much about it other than I was wishing more than anything you were there, and then you were."

Hermione hesitated, not certain how he would take what she was going to say next, "Then Sirius fell through that veil," Remus gasped, remember the pain he felt watching his friend disappear behind the veil and the pain he had felt from Harry as he held the boy back from following his godfather, he pointlessly hoped she hadn't felt all of that, "Yeah," Hermione said, dashing his hopes while absently wiping tear away from her cheek, "It was bad," she murmured, "You were feeling what Harry was feeling, and I was feeling what you were feeling, plus what _I_ was already feeling."

Hermione shuddered, and suddenly Remus couldn't stay away anymore. He stood and walked over to her, giving her a hug, "Then there was Moony," she whimpered, her arms wrapping around him, "It was horrible, so horrible. He lost another member of his pack and it was tearing him apart."

Remus held her, feeling his heart break as her tears slid from her face and onto his chest. "You don't have to finish Hermione," he murmured into her hair, "We don't have to talk about this."

Hermione shook her head and pushed away from him, despite every urge in her body not to do so, "No," she said softly her watery eyes looking up into his chocolate brown ones, "You deserve to know," she finished.

Remus nodded and led her back to the couch and sat down with his arm around her shoulders, "Until my sixth year Tonks had barely been on my radar, but then she started making all those advances on you," Hermione inhaled, trying to squash the remaining jealous feelings, "Even when I wasn't near you, Moony would let me know of his irritation with the woman and her forwardness. All year I was irritated, with Harry for doing better in potions than me because of some book, and with Ron because he couldn't unseal his lips from Lavenders for more than ten seconds for air," she shook her head.

Hermione resisted the urge to snuggle into Remus' embrace and tried to continue, "When you agreed to marry that…thing…" Hermione hissed, "That's what Moony insisted on calling her," she quickly paused to explain, "Everything in me broke, it felt terrible. Moony was so mad at you, and I was mad at you, and I hated Tonks for managing to snag you before I even had the chance to try," Hermione shuddered and gave a small moan, "I wanted to scream and cry and break something, anything, but I couldn't, I simply congratulated you two and wished you the best."

Remus stared blankly ahead, remembering the irritation Moony had demonstrated in his own mind with his decision.

"I thought about you a lot while we were out hunting for Horcruxses. I thought about you, and Tonks and your baby, and how irritatingly happy it made me when you tried to leave Tonks behind," Hermione felt Remus tense and she quickly went to reassure him, "I knew there was no way you would ever _actually_ leave your child without a father, no matter how scared you were. But the fact that you were willing to leave _Tonks_ gave me some hope that maybe you weren't as attached to her as I thought you had been, and that maybe there was still a chance for me."

Hermione felt Remus relax and gave a small smile, "When you 'died' during the Final Battle, all I could think was 'he's not dead, I can feel it, he's not dead.' Moony wasn't gone and I didn't feel as if you had died…I don't know how to describe it, but I just _knew_. But I couldn't figure out a way to let everyone else know without making you into some lecherous old pervert, which, by the way, you are not," Hermione said poking him in the side, making them both smile.

"When you woke up, I cannot tell you how happy I was. I wished I could have stayed by your side with Harry, but Ron and Ginny had dragged me off to go see Fred; besides the fact that Tonks was sitting right next to you and I probably would have killed her myself if I wasn't careful." Hermione went silent, her mind absently trailing back to that day.

Realizing she had just suddenly stopped speaking she hurried to continue, "To be honest, and don't get mad at me for this, but I didn't really even like Teddy at first." Remus tensed again, and Hermione nudged him, "I said don't get mad, I was jealous of his mother, and I couldn't bring myself to see past that for a couple of months, but then one night when I was babysitting him, Teddy changed his hair and eyes to match mine, and it was so adorable that I completely forgot my dislike of him."

Remus was still tense but Hermione chose to ignore it, "It became a regular thing to only dislike seeing him whenever he was around Tonks, and I eventually figured out that it wasn't _him_ that I didn't like, it was the fact that he was _your_ son, but not _mine_." Hermione felt her own body stiffen at this admission, and she silently cursed, having not intended to actually tell Remus her conclusion. Without thinking, Hermione stood up and walked to a different set of books.

"The day Tonks left you and Teddy was one of the best, yet worst days of my life. Best because I finally was able to not feel guilty for lusting after another woman's husband, as much as she may have annoyed me. It was one of the worst because I could see and feel how much it pained you to have her do what she did. I wanted so badly to give you some sort of comfort, but I didn't know how, so I vented my anger and various emotions at Tonks in a very…not nice letter to her…and her new boy toy."

Remus let out a bark of laughter at that, surprising Hermione as she turned to look at him in confusion, Remus saw her look and explained, "I was wondering if anyone even bothered to go after her 'boy toy' and you so kindly put it, but now I am grateful that I wasn't the only one," he said with that familiar twinkle. He stared at her silently for a long moment before making a decision, "_Now or never," _he heard Moony grumble in the back of his mind. His eyes not leaving hers Remus stood and slowly walked over to her once more, coming uncomfortably close. "Does Moony still talk to you?" he asked curiously, brushing a curl out of her face and behind her ear.

Hermione tried to ignore the quickening of her heartbeat, only to see Remus smirk proudly when he heard it, "Yes, though not as often since you moved in, since I see you frequently enough."

Remus, decision to finally show her how he felt firmly made, chuckled and moved closer, "Despite the fact that you are away teaching at Hogwarts for most of the year?" he teased.

"About that…" Hermione breathed as Remus crept closer, pushing her gently against the bookshelf behind her.

Remus ducked his head to her neck, breathing in, but not touching, taking joy in hearing her heart sputter and skip, "What about it Angel?" he murmured, making his voice husky in a way he hadn't used since his Hogwarts days.

Hermione closed her eyes and tried to focus, not quite understanding his sudden forwardness, but not disliking it in the least, "Uh…McGonagall wants you to…" she spoke airily, her head lolling to one side in an attempt to get him to actually touch her neck instead of teasing her, "to come and teach again…as the DADA professor."

Remus pulled back to stare at the hypnotized woman before him, "What?" he asked, incredulous, "She knows I can't teach while Teddy is still too young to go there."

Hermione opened her eyes, and blinked, trying to clear the haze from her mind, the things this man could do, "She has actually arranged it so that your classes and mine are never at the same time, so one of us will always be available to take care of him while the other teaches," she said, finally remembering what she was going to say.

Remus narrowed his eyes playfully, "And why would she think that you and I would be okay with switching Teddy-watching shifts?" he asked suspiciously, a smirk playing on his lips.

Hermione looked at the floor, "I might have told her a little about my feelings for you…and she decided to use the opportunity to try and play Dumbledore?" she said in a hopeful voice.

Remus smiled for a second before straitening his expression and lifting her chin to look at her, "And what feelings would those be?" he asked seriously, his eyes mesmerizing her own.

Hermione tried to look away, really she did, but found that she didn't really want to. The Moony in her head was suspiciously silent, unlike any other time she had been so close to Remus before, "I think I already told you what my feelings are," she said softly, her sudden self-consciousness showing in her eyes.

Remus saw this and paused, slowly lowering his lips he allowed them to ghost over her cheek and along her jaw, "Would you like to know what _my_ feelings are?" he offered in a low murmur, his lips moving against her ear. He smirked when he felt Hermione's knees give out and gently slipped an arm around her waist to hold her up and firmly pressing her against the book shelf while holding her flush against him.

"Yes," Hermione gasped, deciding that her heart simply could not take anymore, but even if it were to die on her now, she would die a perfectly happy woman. How on earth did he know just what to do to make her so weak? No other boy or man had even come close to being this hypnotizing.

Remus smiled against her skin, feeling Moony give a victorious howl in his mind, "I am completely," he pressed a soft kiss to her neck, making her gasp, "irrevocably," he kissed her jaw, "and utterly" her chin, "in love with you, Hermione Granger," he murmured against her lips without kissing them. He pulled away, surprised but pleased when Hermione let a strangled whimper from her lips.

One of Hermione's hands was clinging to the bookshelf behind her in a desperate attempt to remain standing, while the other was curled lightly into a fist on his chest. Remus opened his mouth to tease her some more when Hermione spoke, "Kiss me," she murmured, removing her hand from its death grip on the bookshelf and sliding it into his hair.

Remus felt as if a dam broke inside him at her command, and felt himself propelled forward to press his lips firmly against hers. Hermione wasted no time in responding, a small mewl of contentment coming from her throat at finally having his lips on hers. Remus felt her hand slide slowly from its place on his chest up to join her other in his hair where she tugged lightly on it, pulling a soft groan of pleasure from him.

Remus slanted his mouth over hers just so, making her feel light headed, and her knees began to give out from beneath her once again. Hermione felt Remus' lips spread into a small smile as he notice the affect he was having on her and responded by darting her tongue out to lick at his bottom lip, surprised when he immediately granted her request with a growl, opening his mouth and meeting her tongue in a surprisingly well matched duel.

Feeling the need for air becoming urgent, Remus began to slow their kisses, his hands buried deep in her hair, just like he had always dreamed of doing, tilting her head in such a way as to grant him the best access he could get to make her feel the things he wanted her to feel.

Hermione felt him slowly begin to pull away and gave a small moan of protest, but allowed him to pull back just far enough to breathe; her hands still tangled in his sandy blonde hair. Slowly she opened her eyes, only slightly surprised to find him staring back at her.

Fearing that she would only say something stupid at this point, Hermione kept her mouth shut, but let out a contented sigh as Remus pressed his forehead to hers. She closed her eyes again, content to just stand as they were, feeling one of his hands slide up and down her side, while the other rested on her neck, his thumb making lazy circles.

Eventually Remus spoke, breaking the silence between them, "You never answered my question love," he said gruffly, moving his lips down to hers and pressing a quick, chaste kiss on them.

Hermione responded with another happy sigh, tugging his head down and pressing her lips to his, both surprising and pleasing him with her forwardness. She pulled away, smirking as she was the one who had him groaning at the lack of contact this time. "You want to know how I feel about you Remus?" she breathed, "I love you," she said, pressing a kiss to his lips, "I love you, I love you, I love you," she repeated, emphasizing each phrase with another kiss, until Remus couldn't take any more teasing and growled, moving to press his lips against hers demandingly.

This time they both broke the kiss at the same time, "Well that's good to know," Remus said, a wide grin on his face as he attempted to etch the memory of her face into his memory, "Because you're stuck with me now Love," he stated, as if there was nothing she could do to make him say or believe otherwise.

"Good," Hermione replied in the same tone, "As long as you're stuck with me in return," she said with a smile.

Remus kissed her again, thoroughly, before pulling away suddenly, "I think we need to stop before we get a little too carried away," he said finally, dragging his hands down her arms to link his fingers through hers and pull them to his lips, kissing them softly, his eyes never leaving hers.

Hermione sighed regretfully but nodded anyway. Remus smiled softly at her, "Don't worry love, there'll be plenty of time for that later. Now, you said something about a dissertation on werewolves?" he stated teasingly.

Hermione smiled back and reluctantly moved away from him to go and retrieve the intended piece of literature. Remus followed her closely, wrapping his arms around her waist as she came to a stop in front of set of ancient books. Hermione giggled as she felt him press a few well placed kisses to her neck. "I thought you said we had to stop," she said, not upset at all.

"I did," he growled, "But I just can't seem to help it," Remus pressed another few kisses to her neck, "You're mine," he said, as if it were suddenly sinking in, "You're finally mine."

Hermione laughed and turned her head to give him a quick kiss on the lips, "For as long as you want me," she murmured.

Remus smiled at that, "As if I could ever stop wanting you," he returned, finding a spot just behind her ear that made her gasp.

"Merlin Remus," she moaned, "Where did you learn how to do that?"

Remus chuckled, the vibrations traveling through her back, making her shiver, despite the stifling heat, "Marauder, Love," was all he said, as if that explained everything, "I had my fair share of admirers in school."

Hermione smiled, "I'm sure you did," she agreed, finally catching sight of her dissertation sitting on a high up shelf. She stood on her tip toes and reached her arm up to grab it, causing her shirt sleeve to slide up her arm a little, and was startled by Remus' gasp. Pulling the book down and turning around she looked up into his horrified gaze in confusion, "Remus?" she asked cautiously.

In response Remus grabbed her hand and dragged her to one of the couches and sat her down on it, placing the dissertation aside. He reached out one hand and held her hand while his other hand slowly pulled the sleeve up, revealing the word Mudblood carved into her skin. Remus eyes looked up to meet her own terrified ones, "What is this Hermione?" he asked gently.

Hermione tugged her arm back and jerked the sleeve down as she stood up, backing towards the door, "It's nothing, listen I'm going to go to -,"

"Take off your shirt," Remus said firmly, surprising Hermione.

"What?" she gasped, subconsciously covering her stomach with her scared arm.

"Take off your shirt," Remus repeated, not standing up.

Hermione attempted to look angry, but merely ended up looking more frightened than before, "You can't just expect me too-,"

Remus gave her a calm look, "Do you not have something on underneath it?" he asked in a way that told her that he knew she wasn't naked without the shirt on.

Hermione frowned and kept backing away, "No, I can't," she stated, her voice edging on hysterical.

"Do you trust me?" Remus asked suddenly, halting her retreat. She just looked at him, "You are my mate, Hermione, and I love you, _all _of you. I want to know why you feel like you need to wear a long sleeve shirt in the middle of one of the hottest summers England has ever had. I want to know who hurt you, and how badly, so I can try and take your pain away," Remus stood but didn't move toward her, "And I want you to trust me as much as I trust you, these scars aren't exactly the picture of sexiness," he tried to joke, gesturing to his own chest.

Hermione felt guilt settle in her chest and she looked at the floor, "_Trust us mate,"_ Moony suddenly said in her mind, but it was surrounded with an odd sort of feeling almost as if…Hermione's head lifted, "Did you just feel…?" she asked looking at Remus, but he looked as startled as she did.

"Is that what it always feels like?" he asked, his eyes unfocused as he contemplated this new development.

Hermione shook her head, "No, this time I could actually feel you inside my mind," she said also trying to figure out where this fit in the new puzzle.

Suddenly Remus' chocolate eyes turned amber and his voice grew lower, "Honestly, and you two call yourselves intelligent," he said, and Hermione gasped.

"Moony?" she asked, walking back to come and stand in front of Remus.

"Yes," he said his facial expression softening as his amber eyes looked down at her, "Now that you have both accepted that you are mates it will become easier for you to communicate with me and the human. When he finally marks you, you and he will be able to communicate whenever and where ever you like in the same way you and I have always spoken."

Hermione looked up at him in confusion, "You mean like, telepathically?" she asked looking up at his face.

"Yes," Moony replied softly.

Hermione tilted her head, her eyes searching his face for something, "Can Remus hear this?" she wanted to know.

"Yes," Moony murmured, "He is fully aware of what is going on, but I felt that it was necessary for me to speak to you, to explain some things I don't think the Human even understands about himself," Moony gave a small soft smile, "Remus trusts you little one," he said, "If it had been anyone else that had shown up tonight he would have most certainly replaced his shirt, despite the discomfort he would have inevitably felt at doing so. But he feels comfortable enough around you to trust you not to judge him for his imperfections."

Hermione frowned, "His 'imperfections?'" she repeated, her cool fingers absently trailing softly down a scar that stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip.

"Yes, that is what he sees his scars as," Moony murmured, his eyes rolling shut as Hermione continued to trace the unbecoming scars that were scattered all over his torso. "They are a part of a curse that he and many others hate and fear. His scars are something he feels guilty for in some ways."

"But why?" Hermione demanded, "He had no control over whether or not he received them!" Hermione felt Remus' hand smooth over her cheek, while the other hand grasped her fingers that were tracing his scars and brought them to his mouth to press a soft kiss. Hermione's eyes followed the movement of her hand to his mouth, eventually looking up at Moony's eyes, only to find that they had returned to the warm chocolate brown that belonged to Remus.

"And you did?" he murmured, her knuckles still pressed to his lips, "You had no more control over whatever scars you may have than I did," he said, "Please Hermione," he sighed, "trust me."

Hermione swallowed and looked at her fingers pressed against his lips, then at the scars that crisscrossed across his chest. Sighing she pulled her hand away and backed up. Remus watched her closely, trying to make sure she wasn't going to try and leave like she had seconds before. But instead of leaving, Remus was mildly surprised when Hermione began to pull off the long warm shirt.

She crossed her arms and gripped the hem of the shirt tightly, suddenly wishing she had slept in something more than the stomach baring thick red sports bra. Remus tried to restrain a gasp as her stomach came into view and then part of her upper chest and her shoulders then her arms as Hermione slowly dropped the shirt to the ground next to her.

Hermione averted her eyes as she felt Remus' eyes trace every jagged and unbecoming scar on her stomach arms and shoulders. Suddenly Remus growled and stepped forward to pull Hermione into his arms. "Who did this to you?" he demanded softly, his lips pressed to her hair, "Who could ever do anything like this to you?"

They stood like that in silence for a long time, Hermione silently crying and Remus trying with difficulty not to do the same. Slowly Remus pulled back just enough to pull her down to sit as close to him on the couch as they could manage. Hermione followed willingly, and as they sat down she turned and snuggled into Remus' side. Silence reigned for another long moment before Hermione softly hissed one word, "Bellatrix."

Remus had to fight himself not to stiffen and growl as he heard the name, "When did you ever get close enough for her to do this to you?" he demanded to know.

Hermione sighed and placed her head over his heart, resuming her tracing of his scars, which seemed to relax him, surprisingly. "How much did Harry tell you about what we were doing while we were away?" she finally murmured.

Remus blinked, "As far as I know, the only people who really know what you were doing are you three," Remus took a deep breath, "I tried to get Harry to talk to me about it for a while after the war, but he seemed to want to avoid it at all cost, so I finally just let it go, figuring he would tell me when he was ready," Remus paused, "He and Ron don't have those types of scars," he said suddenly, knowing immediately that he had said something wrong by the way Hermione froze.

Hermione placed her hand on his chest and pushed up quickly to look him in the eye, "Yeah, well they also don't have to suffer the long term effects of the cruciatus either, but there you go," she snapped.

Remus felt as if he had accidentally tread on something that had been bothering Hermione for a while now. "What do you mean?" he asked gently trying to show her he hadn't meant to anger her.

Hermione eyed his surprised face and sighed, realizing she had overreacted, "I'm sorry, it's just that everyone always assumes Harry got the worst of what happened to us…" Hermione trailed off and laid her head back down over Remus' heart, "It doesn't matter, forget I said anything."

"Hermione," Remus growled, "Tell me what you meant," he demanded.

Hermione hesitated, "I suppose you know what horcruxes are?" she finally said, trying to figure out just how much Remus did know. When Remus nodded, she went on before he could say anything, "Well Voldemort had made six of them. Harry destroyed the first one in his second year, it was Tom Riddle's Diary, I'm sure you've heard that story," Hermione stated, surprised when Remus shook his head, "Oh," she paused, "Well you'll have to ask Harry about that then, they are more his stories to tell, death defying stunts the lot of them," she grumbled.

"Anyway," she continued, "Dumbledore managed to destroy Marvolo Gaunt's ring in our sixth year, and just before Dumbledore died he and Harry had managed to find a third one in the form of Slytherin's locket. However, we later found out that the one Dumbledore and Harry had found had actually been a fake made by Regulus and the real one had been hidden by him."

Remus held up his hand, "Wait, Regulus? As in Regulus, _Sirius_' brother?" he repeated unbelievingly.

Hermione nodded, "Regulus Arcturus Black, R.A.B. he had us stumped, we couldn't figure out who he was for a long time, it wasn't until we had come here to hide out for a while that we discovered his room with his initials on the door. Harry summoned Kreacher and we found out that Mundungus had been at Grimmauld place and had taken all sorts of things, including the real Slytherin locket. But as luck would have it," Hermione sighed, "He had given it to Umbridge as a form of bribery."

Remus tensed, and Hermione gave a humorless chuckle, "Yep, that's pretty much how we felt. So Harry then comes up with the brilliant idea of stealing it from her, the short version being we knocked out three Ministry employees and used polyjuice to become them, helping us in our ultimately successful endeavor to steal the locket back."

Remus shook his head, "You three are insane," he stated, "but why do I have the feeling you're leaving a lot out?" he asked.

Hermione smiled, "That would be because I am. If I didn't you would be up those stairs and dragging Ron and Harry down here to explain, and then where would we be?" she asked, bravely dropping a kiss to his chest, smirking when she felt his heart beat quicken. "Besides," she said, "I suspect the key to their wonderful new sleep patterns comes in the form of two lovely women named Ginny and Lavender. I don't think you want to accidentally walk in on something…untoward happening do you?"Hermione wiggled her eyebrows suggestively with a small smile.

Remus raised an eyebrow, "Hermione, I am fairly certain Harry and Ron would tell us if they had women in their rooms," he said with a confident smile.

Hermione raised an eyebrow then lifted her wand, "_Homenum Revelio_," she stated, and quickly the spell revealed that there wasn't just four, but six occupants in the house, Teddy being absent as he was spending the week with his grandmother.

Remus looked down at her incredulously, "I stand corrected," he finally said, shaking his head, "It seems I may be feeling the need to call a family meeting tomorrow," he joked.

Hermione laughed, "So anyway, after some fighting, the Horcrux had a tendency to make the wearer irritable, and Ron leaving then finding his way back in the dead of night, Ron and Harry managed to destroy the locket Horcrux. After that…some… stuff happened," she hedged, "and we ended up getting caught by snatchers."

Remus gasped, and his grip on her tightened, "Moony wasn't happy with that either," she told him, "I managed to hit Harry with a stinging hex that made his face swell up to be nearly unrecognizable. Though it was still recognizable to those who knew him, like Draco," Hermione stated offhandedly, "Bellatrix wanted to make sure it really was Harry before summoning Voldemort, so she asked Draco to identify him, Draco and Harry stared at each other for a long time before Draco finally said that he couldn't be sure if it was Harry or not."

Remus let out a sigh of relief, hoping uselessly that nothing worse had happened, hope that was quickly ruined by her next words, "Then she found Gryffindor's sword in my bag," Hermione took in a deep breath so quickly it made a hissing noise, "She wasn't happy with that at all, and she demanded to know where we got it from, we refused to tell her, so she sent Harry and Ron to the dungeons and decided to interrogate me first."

Hermione's voice deadened, as she tried to distance herself from the memories, "She started out with a few rounds of the cruciatus, then when that didn't work she began using a knife, cutting me randomly, until she had the brilliant idea to carve the word Mudblood into my arm, to make sure that I never 'forgot what I was,' she said. She then crucioed me a few more times and cut me some more. Then she let…" Hermione shuddered and went silent, knowing the next part was going to make him mad.

"Hermione?" Remus prodded, startled by her abrupt pause.

"Promise you won't get mad at me," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.

Remus frowned, "Why would I get mad at you Love? You did nothing to deserve whatever it was Bellatrix did to you," he said firmly.

Hermione shuddered again, "Greyback was there," she murmured, feeling Remus tense up she went on hurriedly, "He could smell you on me, he knew I was your mate, and it made him blood thirsty," Hermione felt several tears slip from her eyes, "He wanted to ruin me, and hurt you, and Bellatrix figured that she wasn't getting anything from me so she let him…" Hermione stopped, "He…" she tried again, but couldn't say anything.

Remus felt his head slip back as he closed his eyes, imagining the horror and terror she must have felt, "Did he rape you?" he finally growled, feeling Moony grow incredibly angry in the back of his mind.

Hermione nodded, "I screamed and cried and I begged, but he wouldn't stop. When he finally…_finished_," she snarled at the word, "Bellatrix went back to her little games, torturing me this way and that way, it all started to blur together, and all I could think was that I was never going to see you again, how I was never going to be able to tell you how much I love you and how amazing you are," Hermione leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips, surprised when Remus responded forcefully, pulling her onto his lap, and kissing her with abandon.

Slowly he lowered her down until she was laying on the couch with him hovering over her, his kisses became less demanding and more loving, never decreasing in intensity, as Remus attempted to show Hermione just how much he loved her through his kisses. Slowly he broke away and searched her eyes, "I love you too," he whispered, "So much."

Hermione smiled, having been effectively brought back to the present and the happier moments in her life. She reached up and slid her hand through his soft hair, smiling when his eyes rolled shut and he dropped his head to her shoulder. She paused as Remus began to negotiate their two bodies until they were lying with her resting partially on top of him, their legs tangled together, as he looked up at the old and cracked ceiling.

"Tell me it didn't go on for much longer," he pleaded his voice cracking.

Hermione shook her head as best she could with it lying on his chest. She traced absent patterns on his chest in silence for a minute until one of his hands, the one that wasn't wrapped around her waist, lifted to hold her hand over his chest in between them. "Dobby showed up then and helped us escape," Hermione sighed, "He died in the process, and Harry insisted on burying him before getting any kind of treatment for himself.

"We eventually decided Bellatrix's terror at seeing the sword in our possession came from the fact that it had previously been in her vault at Gringotts, so naturally the brilliant idea that we needed to get into her vault to see what she was hiding occurred to us. And who gets chosen to play Bellatrix? None other than little old me," Hermione gave a humorless laugh and Remus felt his heart tighten.

"So wait, you mean to tell me that you three broke into Gringotts, and got out _alive_?"He demanded an astonished tone in his voice.

"Always the tone of surprise," Hermione joked, going silent.

"Then what happened?" Remus pressed, wanting to know exactly how much danger she had placed herself in.

Hermione hesitated, "You know what," she said, "I think the rest of the story would be better coming from Harry himself," she stated, in a way that told him she was done talking about it.

Remus chuckled, "Alright, but trust me, we are going to have a long chat, not just about your little search for the Horcruxses but there's apparently a bit you lot haven't told me about the rest of your years at Hogwarts," he told her.

Hermione smiled, snuggling into his chest some more, reveling in the feel of his skin on hers, "Maybe," she murmured, her eyes suddenly rolling shut in tiredness.

Remus smiled softly as he felt her breathing even out, moving just a small bit he pulled his wand out of his pocket and waved it making the room go dark. He pulled Hermione closer, feeling completely happy for the first time in years. "Now that I've caught you, Hermione, I'm never letting you go," he murmured, not expecting a response.

"Hope not," Hermione softly responded.

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Authors Note:

So another Remus/Hermione story…I do know how to write other pairings I promise! Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at things, this is one of my favorite pairings to write. They are just so easy to put together, so here it is, yet another Remus/Hermione fic.

If you liked this story, or didn't, please, please, please REVIEW! I have become a Review junkie in the recent months since I started publishing stories here….so please indulge me…even one word works….

Until next time….


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